(1.620 Rating) A beginner friendly course in a nice neighborhood park.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - The environment here is ideal for beginners. Almost no water and zero overgrowth to contend with. The odds of losing a disc will be limited to forgetting to pick up or begin foolish and pumping one 40 feet long on (3). The distances on a few holes will encourage length development and the par figures will be encouraging. This course would be perfect for night golf too, although I'm not sure if the park is open.
- NAVIGATION - Adequate. Hole (1) is about 300 feet east of the parking lot. The tee signs are basic, showing distance and next tee direction. The tee sign's artistic description of the fairways are useless as the trees aren't shown. All stated, what makes this course easy to follow is the open nature of the park.
- QUICK PLAY - Like throwing gas on a lit fire, it goes quick. I had it wrapped up in under 20 minutes and checked off another course.
- TEES - Wonderful tees. 6 feet by 12 feet. Players will have way more than they need.

Too simplistic for most.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - I am now one of 9 DGCR members to sling a 9 down (par 30) or better on this course, along with pro greats like Sneaky Jedi and Sisyphus. 3 holes are open shots that hover at around the 300 foot range. The rest are lightly wooded in the 150 to 210 foot range.
- PAR STRUCTURE - Holes 1, 2 and 9 are listed as par 4s. How nice. Everyone over an 850 rating needs to play this as an all par 3 layout.
- UNIQUENESS - An entry level city park nine without any distinctive features or acreage to produce an inspiring layout. There is one borderline in-play water features, elevation change maxes out at 30 feet and there are no heavily wooded plays. Holes (3) through (8) are all chip-shot snooze fest ace runs where discs have to miss a couple mid-size trees. Hole distance vary from mid 100s to low 300s. As stated above, there are three listed par 4s, but I did not give credit for any of them.
- CHAINS - These must be the original DISCatchers models, cause they were the worst of this brand I've ever thrown at. The chains were noticeable lighter than normal. My putts were getting brushed off to the side on every non dead center putt. Somehow they all went in.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - There is nothing that makes this park stand out from any other park. A spattering of trees, a small hill and mowed grass. Those features were enough to garner a 2.0 out of 5 in my beauty rankings.

O'Brien Park will work just fine as a neighborhood disc golf course. It's quick to play and likely very relaxing for the local residents. This is an ideal course to introduce a first timer too as they won't lose any of your discs. For those outside a 15 minutes drive, it's really not worth a play. Non-locals would have to be trying to play every course in Chicago or be a course bagger to show up here.

Well maintained, nice pads, signs and baskets, easy access, decent variety of shots

Every hole is straight, long holes are still pretty short

As a casual 9-hole course, O'Brien really delivers. It has cement pads, tee signs, baskets and the grass is well-maintained. The 3 longer holes are wide open and the 6 short ones all have some trees (or the swamp behind #3) to navigate. It's not the most exciting or challenging course but it does require you to play a decent variety of different shots. You won't want to hang out there all day but for a quick disc fix, it satisfies.

- tee signs for each hole
- concrete tees for each hole
- makes use of a huge hole and a drainage ditch for elevation change
- short lengths made a bit interesting by risk of overthrow into marsh on #3
- good for beginners and people just looking to work on technique
- lots of ace opportunities
- good quality baskets (a bit rusty, but no less usable)

- some of the tee signs have graffiti on them
- many of the holes are VERY short (almost difficult not to overthrow on 150')
- most are quite open, though some trees are in the routes
- little sets this apart from other city courses

This course is okay, and I almost wanted to like it more. The holes are a bit too short but the continual excitement of an ace is admittedly a bit nice. It's a serviceable course with good baskets, but it's one of the few I've seen with graffiti on tee signs. There is also some sort of dog breeder adjacent to the course and a multitude of dogs were barking nonstop for the half hour plus I was playing. It's not that big a deal but wasn't the most pleasant. All in all, the course is fairly ordinary and not one worth making a trip back to in my opinion. If you are newer to the game, it's a great one to build some confidence on and get used to shorter throws before moving on to other courses.

O'Brien Park is a lovely city park with the usual activities going on, pic nic shelter, soccer fields, etc. This park does have a sledding hill and an interesting ditch/trench, both of which are well used on the disc golf course.

The course has adequate concrete pads. The baskets are Discatchers with the yellow bands. The tee signs are basic but do have a preferred route on them.

The course is so great for beginners and less experienced players. There's nearly no way to get into trouble here except possibly on # 3 and the water 30 feet beyond the basket. With six holes under 208', younger players will have some ACE chances.

One obvious highlight is teeing off from the top of the sledding hill. The basket is 330' and completely open so this gives players without big arms a chance to see their disc sail away.

Holes 5-8 all play back and forth across the same little gully/ditch. They're all about the same length and although they're fun throws, it's a little repetitive to have four of them in a row.

There isn't much challenge for anyone past a rec player. For us recreational players, throwing off the sledding hill and chasing those ACEs is great fun.

A neighbor who lives behind the play area runs a kennel and her dogs barked incessantly during my entire 25 minute round today.

Another excellent course for beginners. I've not seen many better for introducing younger players to the game of disc golf.

- Nice park setting is pleasant to play through

- Baskets, tee pads, and signs are in good repair

- Decent hazard variety for such a small course (elevation, water, trees)

- Very short and largely open, most holes at/under 200'

- Lack of variety through the middle section of the course

- Tee signs not in the best location (explained below)

O'Brien Park is a nice, typical suburban park with playgrounds, sports fields, and walking paths. The disc golf course is mostly removed from the other areas of the park, and I have not had any conflicts with other park users.

The course starts and ends relatively strong, with holes 1 and 2 presenting fun uphill and downhill shots that are two of the three longest holes. Hole 3 starts the series of 6 short holes, but has a retention pond directly behind the basket to add a bit of interest. Holes 5-8 play back and forth over a drainage ditch which, along with the sporadic tress, provide enough of a challenge to keep the course from being completely boring. The course finishes with one more chance to actually stretch out your arm with it second hole over 300'.

This isn't a bad course to work on your short game if you are a more seasoned player. Most of the middle holes have lines where you can just toss up a high forehand or backhand hyzer shot over/around the trees, but there are tighter, lower ceiling lines up the middle that are nice to work your putters through.

This is a nice course for beginners as well. My wife puts up wonderfully with the longer more challenging courses she usually plays with me, but her 200-250' max drive felt at home here. She enjoyed the change of pace and managed to shoot under par. So if you are new to the game, have friends of family you want to introduce to the sport, or just want an easy change of pace, O'Brien is a great little park.

Concerning the equipment, the teepads are perfectly adequate, and the baskets, while a bit rusty, are otherwise in good repair and catch well. The tee signs are fine though mostly unnecessary as navigation is trivial and you can see every basket from the pad. My issue with the signs, however, is that they are placed at the front right side of the tee pads. This is a perfect location to accidentally wack the back of your hand on a right-hand-backhand follow through. Even if it isn't terribly likely, once you realize it as a possibility, it can get in your head and screw up your form trying to avoid the sign. I have hit my hand on a sign during a follow through before (different course) and it is no fun. I would rather the signs be placed at the front of the pads.

O'Brien Park is nothing special, but that doesn't mean it is no good. I enjoy my rounds here, and wish I had a course like this in my backyard, I would play it most days after work. So if you live nearby, bring a friend or family member and grow the sport!

>> Cement tee pads were installed!
>> A very quick course to play if you're short on time but want to play a round. I played the course twice in approx 45 min
>> A good layout considering the amount (or lack thereof) of open space the park has available.
>> Several holes through trees with a low ceiling give you a chance to work on your accuracy

>> Many of the holes put you in danger of being hit by an errant throw (I disc rolled right in front of me as I left the Tee pad)
>> Short Tee pads
>> Rusty chains on several of the baskets

I thought it was a good course for practicing different throws and trying out new discs. Or maybe even an ace race course. I nearly aced a couple and I'm not a pro by any standard.

Tee signs are nice quality and the park itself is nice and tucked away between houses. En route, I almost missed the park entrance because it was that tucked away. This is a good course for beginners and young kids.

The course needs better maintenance as each basket has a large amount of rust. There are no teepads, just tee ditches. Unfortunately, there's no real way to tell what counts as part of the tee and what doesn't, as there's about 10-15 feet of dirt patch with the tee sign about a third to a half of the way between the rear of the patch and the basket. The tee ditches seem easily rutted and seem quite a large pain if the weather is wet. Depending on weather, I may try to return tomorrow since it's been rainingstorming for the last several hours.

For experienced golfers, this course has little challenge. Of the 3 holes marked as par 4, only 1 (hole 9) seems like a legitimate par 4 candidate (for amateurs, not pros). In fact, I had a kiss-of-death interaction with the chains for ace on one of the par 4's. Several of the par 3's seem like they shouldn't even be a par of 3, though I've never heard of a par 2 hole. I kept having to pull up on most drives to keep from overthrowing or even crushing it past the basket and still had problems at times.

This could be a seasonal thing or just a problem the day that I went, but there was also a very large gnat problem to the point where I was having to swing wildly for 10-15 seconds prior to most throws.

Even with my atrocious putting abilities, I honestly think that I could get sub-20 on a good day. If I had played here when it was 30 degrees F cooler...I'm pretty sure that I would have thrown ~20.

- This suburban niner is located in a grassy, mostly open park. The course plays up (#1) and then down (#2) a small hill, and then works it's way back and forth through a smattering of mature trees (#'s 4-8) before ending with another completely open hole (#9).
- A nice balance between open shots and the scattered trees; the course is definitely beginner-friendly, but has enough variety to give a good taste of what disc golf is about.
- Elevation is used to great effect, especially #'s 1, 2, and 6. #1 starts off with an open uphill shot. #2 throws a mini bomb off the hill. #6's a miniature "over the gorge" shot, with the pin protected by trees.

- The tees, while far from the worst I've seen, are in pretty bad shape. Basically comprised of large rutted-out gravel patches, they don't provide terrible footing, but they certainly don't help.
- A few of the holes feel very similar in nature (#'s 7 and 8 look suspiciously like #6).
- A lack of any significant distance relegates this course to an "entry level" caliber course. A pair of holes (#'s 2 and 9) stretch past 320', but just barely, and one of those is downhill. Both are wide open.

- #3 was as dry as a bone when I played the course. Perhaps seasonal flooding or some other factor brings water into play, but I saw nothing obvious.
- While nothing spectacular, O'Brien does a solid job of mixing up elevation, trees, and open land to create an accessible and fun introduction to disc golf. Really, the hill is the saving grace here, as otherwise it'd end up being just another flat and boring Chicagoland niner.

O'Brien Park is a short beginners course. It starts with two pretty OK shots; # 1 shoots up a sled hill and #2 is an elevated tee shot down the backside of the hill. From there the course settles down into a series of < 200' shots back and forth over a ditch, followed by a longer 300'-ish open shot at #9 to finish. There were good signs and the flow was easy to follow. The park is lightly wooded, and four of the nine shots were pretty wide-open.

The tees are natural and badly rutted out. They don't give much in the way of footing. The shots get repetitive as so many of them shoot back and forth over a ditch with similar distances. It is hard to remember one hole from the other since they were all so similar. The distances and challenge-level would have to be described as "beginners only."

While it would be nice if there was a bit more variety to this course, it does make for a good beginners design. If the tee situation was addressed, it would be a pretty OK course. I think there is a need for these types of courses, as they do a good job of introducing the sport to a wide range of players. Unfortunately, for the purpose of reviewing there isn't much to them and they simply don't rate highly.

A nice community park course for casual to rec players to get their egos inflated, O'Brien DGC has nine relatively easy holes with predominantly open lines to each basket. There is almost no chance of losing a disc here, as the lawns are well-maintained, and the park is very clean. The only place that poses a challenge on that front is going long to the pond on #3. There are three holes over 300' (#1 can be considered so because it plays over 10' uphill - effectively a 30' length 'increase' - on a basket 280' from the tee): #'s 1, 2, & 9.
The first 'tee' is just past the playground and runs across the park to the right side of the hill. Shooting to the second hole from the top of the hill towards the rear of the park was a pleasure for this moderate to weak arm. Then the real ace runs began, with #'s 3 through 8 running back and forth across the gentle drainage ravine, before finishing back towards the playground with a longer, open field #9 basket.
Intermediate (and above) players may look at O'Brien as an opportunity to practice approaches and putts, or just an opportunity to rack up aces on their resumes.
Each hole had a decent tee sign.
The park has play areas, a soccer field, a pond, and a walking path, adequate parking, water, a port-o-let, and other amenities for a family picnic outing.

The tee areas are not well defined, as they are still simply swaths of gravel beside the tee signs, and though they are fairly level, they tend to spread forward and back for about 30'. Based on the pictures and initial course information, it doesn't look like there are intentions to upgrade (though the course seems decently maintained).
Though the flow is usually pretty clear, I always prefer having at least an overview map near the first tee.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the Innova baskets with the 'chastity belt' metal rims at the top, but even more so because that's what I hit to miss an ace on #6.
The course is probably too short, easy, and monotonous for a serious player to expect any kind of challenge, unless they need an ego boost like I did (see below).

After the frustration of not being able to complete a tournament in near 100 degree heat on a Saturday (borderline heat stroke), I truly enjoyed playing a couple of rounds at O'Brien the next morning, in part because the weather broke, and a sunny, lightly breezy morning in the high 70's felt SO good. But the other part was that this short, easy course was such a confidence booster for a Rec level player to run 7 straight birdies, I had to grin!

- Course makes good use of the available terrain. A small sled hill provides an upshot and downshot, both of decent length. Fun way to start a round off.
- A few of the shorter holes use the trees well to force some line-shaping and shot selection.
- Okay mix of hole length. A couple over 300', a lot of short ones.
- There is water behind a basket, but only a ridiculously overthrown shot would reach it.
- Good signs and baskets

- Middle holes of the course are pretty bland, repetetive, and short. Majority of the holes are less than 200', and are just throwing back and forth over a small ditch. Even with the trees in play, every hole is easily reachable by anyone who has had minimal practice.
- Fairways are constantly next to each other, wayward discs can easily end up on the wrong hole.
- Ditch will hold water after a rainfall; not fun crossing it 5+ times.
- Tees aren't good, but they could be worse. Which they soon will be.

- This park is too small to hold a serious disc golf course, and the course itself is crammed into a small area. The longer holes, #1, #2, and #9 are actually decent, but the rest are just too small and similar. One or two of the short, trees-in-play holes would be OK, but not six in a row.
- Good place to practice different shots if nothing else. The uphill and downhill slopes aren't bad. Maybe OH or FH practice for someone with little experience with those shots as well. Would be very hard to lose a disc, so it's easy to experiment.

For casual players and people learning to play the game, this is a very good course to get a feel for disc golf -- it's short, easy to shoot under par, there are very few places to lose a disc, and some elevation change.

For more experienced players, this course won't be much of a challenge, but it's still very easy to navigate, the baskets/signs are fairly new, and while it's an easy course there is still a decent variety of shots given the length. However...

Other than 1, 2 and 8, this course is just basically taking shots back and forth over a ditch

This ditch gets sloppy during the spring, so be prepared to get muddy if it has rained recently.

The tee pads here are brutal, there are lumps and holes in every single one making them almost unusable.

You can play a round here in 20 minutes easily. Like I mentioned, this is a pretty good course for new players, but for more skilled players it offers little more than a chance to rack up an ace or two.

Much improved!!
-Good beginner course
-Nice Discatcher Pro baskets
-One uphill (1) and one downhill (2) hole
(these two holes use a sled hill, 1's basket is on the side of the hill and 2's tee is at the top)
-Water can come into play on 3 (basket is on a rise with a pond ~30' behind)
-A few of the holes require you to throw different lines
-Got my first ace here

-Mostly wide open
-Overall very short (only 2 holes over 300)
-Gravel tees are quite rutted
-This course can be frustrating because you feel you should 2 every hole
-Can be crowded
-The small tree in the center on 5 is gone, totally changing the hole (way easier than it used to be).

If you played this course a few years ago one round was enough. The holes were silly short, the baskets were bent, there was no reason to go back. The redesign has really improved things. Don't go out of your way to play it, but it is no longer a waste of space. Castaldo Park just west of O'brien in Woodridge is much better.

It was fun to bring the family out for a half a round. Super easy, great intro or lesson course. Not too crowded. Some slight elevation changes but it is Illinois so not really hilly.

Not a disc golf only park although there is very little reason to be on disc golf part, because there is enough non disc golf areas.

The play ground is not too close to the course! so you don't need to fret over driving near kids. This is a design that should be used in other multi use park courses.

As a beginner and having the kids play too this course was a great course. We loved playing 1 and 2 because of the sledding hills elevation. There was a water hazard, and a " dry creek" which for beginners playing it as a water hazard without the true possibility of losing a disc is good.

The tees are bad

a very well kept park that we will visit again for sledding in the winter months

The course plays through a grassy park with some small trees. The first two holes play up and back down a sled hill, and add some fun elevation. The second hole is lots of fun teeing off from the top of the hill overlooking the entire park. The rest of the holes are mostly flat, though a few play over a small dry drainage ditch. One hole plays toward a pond, adding a risk/reward element that will punish drives that go too long.

The park is very nicely maintained, with pretty trees and well-mowed grass. The tee areas are well defined, and mostly flat. There are tee signs for every hole, making the course verry easy to follow and navigate. The baskets were very new, and in great shape.

The course isn't all that challenging, only one hole (#9) allows for any kind of drive. The rest of the holes are reachable for most players using only a putter. Nearly every hole has a wide open RHBH hyzer route, it would have been nice if the trees had been used to force some other kind of shot.

The tees were rutted and not always in good shape. Many did not provide all that good of footing, though none of the holes are long enough to require much of a run-up. The middle portion of the course plays back and forth across a small ditch, and seems very repetitive.

This course is perfect for beginning players, with little punishment for errant drives, some trees to avoid, and no real chance to lose a disc. More experienced players will not find much challenge here, though it is a fun course to play a relaxed one disc round with a putter or bring new players.

The course is pretty, and has some fun spots, but it doesn't have a whole lot to draw players from much of a distance. Don't drive way out of your way to play this one, but stop by for a quick fun round.

Short course, not too crowded and good for beginners who are working form but don't have the distance on their drive yet. Some elevation on holes 1 and 2, some locals play hole 10 (from the top of the large hill to the 9th basket) which adds another elevated hole.

If you are a pro or can drive more than 300 ft on average you probably won't need to bring a driver at all.

This course is walking distance from my house so I have played it a lot. Be respectful to the houses lining the course and try not yell too much profanity, there are kids that come and play at the playground!

What I personally like and how this course stacks up:
1) Holes with good risk/reward -- D+
2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities -- D+
3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography -- D+
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion -- C-
5) Multi-shot holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them -- NA

I ranked this course subjectively based on my own personal enjoyment factor...more accurately my "personal addiction factor". Since I have played a decent number of courses (115 18-hole, 50 9-hole as of early 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they chose courses to play and explore.

Over time, I expect to fill some of my reviews in with more descriptive verbiage...if what I say adds anything to what has already been written. For now, my list is more important to me than the verbiage of my reviews.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me. See my profile for my rating philosophy.

- New Discatcher Pro baskets
- Maintained gravel tee pads
- All signs fully intact/not damaged and were fairly nice.
- Porta-Potty by the parking lot
- Easy to follow for first time
- Hole #1 and #2 have decent elevation to them
- Not too crowded
- Park was very clean and nicely maintained

- Holes #5-#8 are bland and very alike like the other reviewer said
- Some people flying kites on Hole #1 and Hole #2
- The main con is the design it's just not that engaging
- I felt restricted throwing and couldn't just let a nice drive go
- Most holes are only 100 to 200 something feet long, lacks any holes where you can actually throw a nice drive

This is a well maintained Disc Golf Course but the design really sets it back, however I would play it again for sure, and it's a great course to introduce people into the sport.

* Brand new baskets
* Brand new gravel pits for the tee areas
* Fully detailed tee signs
* Enjoyable pitch & putt
* Hole # 2 best by far, has you throwing downhill on a nice sized hill.

* Majority of the holes are short ranged
* Couple of shots are 100% wide open. No obstacles once so ever

I played the old holes before playing the new holes. The upgraded baskets & tee areas really improve the course. (the old baskets are rusted and the old tee areas are muddy) Some holes are just modified where a couple are changed completely. I'd play again.